Carpet-sewing machine



(No-Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. GOWING.

CARPET SEWING MACHINE.

Patented Apr. 22,1884.

N) PETERS mvum m. Washinglun. D C.

(No Model) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. GOWING.

CARPET SEWING MAGHINE.

arena GEORGE GO'WING, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CARPET-SEWING MACHiNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 297,384, dated April 22, 1884.

Application filed December 21, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE GOWING, of

to be used in connection'with a travelingsew' ing-machine for sewing'carpets. It is especially adapted to the machine shown in Letters Patent granted me by the United States Patent Office Nos. 262,586 and 287,276. The apparatus, however, may be used in whole or part with other forms of traveling sewingmachines. Special points claimed are fully and particularly set forth hereinafter, and are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which 7 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus with the machine in place upon the track. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the supporting-frame and track. Fig. 3 is a perspec tive view, and Fig. 4 a side elevation, of the gripping device.

The supporting-frame consists, mainly, of standards A, and a bar, B, secured in the top of the standards. These standards are provided with any suitable form of feet for securing them to the floor, and are provided with any suitable form of braces, as O. The bar B is composed of sections,which may have lap-joints and fit into the mortised ends of the standard, as shown at D, where a single bolt and nut holds the ends together and in the end of the standard. The frame is extended laterally by means of cross-pieces E, of any suitable number, this being supported by braces from the standards, and upon these braces and upon the bar B may be placed sectionsof a table-top, F F. At each end of the frame, and to the upper ends of the standards, are attached brackets a b. The bracketa is notched and provided with lugs 1 1 to receive the cross-head 2 of the rail G. The other end of the rail is threaded and passes through a smooth hole in the bracket 1). It is stretched taut by means of a nut turned onto the The upper surface of the bar threaded end.

B is toothed to be adapted to the traveling machine shown in my said patents. The brackets are adapted to hold the rail preferably about six inches from the bar B. The lower track of the machine is formed by a rail, H, supported in end brackets, likethose above described, and by additional brackets d e. The former is fixed to a standard, and the latter to the under side of the bar B, and thus the floor is left clear.

The devices for holding the carpet edges in match and to the work are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Two thicknesses of carpet are represented as lying on the frame and table at L. They are held at the end by pins 4 4, set in the table, and passing up through the carpet, which is held down by a button, 5. On the top of the bar B are pivoted arms M M, so as to swing in a horizontal plane to yield as the carpet is drawn laterally, and to be moved out of the way as the machine advances. They are composed of a flat bar which is bent upward and backward upon itself, as shown at m, forming a recess to receive the edges of the carpet, and a hole, 6, is made down through the backwardly-turned end and through the main part of the bar, wherein a pin, 7, may be inserted to hold the edges of the carpet within the recess. These arms are preferably located about two feet apart,and when turned outwardly toward the rail G they hold the edges of the carpet properly in line with the needle of the machine. The pin 7 not only holds the edges of the carpet in proper relation to each other and to the needlepath, but

also holds the carpet with the figures properly matched.

It will be understood that the arm M is swung by the attendant out of the way of the sewing-machine when said machine has nearly reached the arm. The machine itself and the stitching so far completed then hold the edges of the carpet at that point.

On the left-hand end of the frame-that is to say, the end toward which the machine is movingis a winding-pulley, N, having winding-arms n, or in lieu thereof, suitable cranks. On this pulley is wound a stretching-cord, O. This pulley is pivoted, preferably, on an extension of the bracket a. The end of the cord is represented as attached to a gripping device of suitable construction. (Shown in Figs. 3 and 4.) A shank, P, has two prongs, p p, bent at right angles to the shank, and between these prongs is a wedge, Q, trans-- versely grooved, and held by a screw passing through a slot in the shank P. The slot, as shown in Fig. 4, is in a central 'line between the prongs p p. The wedge is free to turn 011 the holding-screw, so that it can adjust itself between the prongs. It is applied to the carpet, as shown in Fig. 4, where the two thicknesses of carpetB R are represented as inserted one upon one side of the wedge, the other upon the opposite, and between the grooved sides of the wedge and the inner surface of the prongs.

Any strain upon the carpet causes the device to grip more tightly, and the two parts of the carpet may be made to match in figure when the gripping device is applied by drawing up one or the other more or less, as the case may require. Obviously both parts may be inserted upon one side of the wedge instead of in the manner shown.

The frame may be made of any length, being composed of separate sections, and is subjected to no restriction in this respect, except the inconvenience in handling the rail,which should be of one continuous piece; but the longest carpets may be sewed upon it by simply shifting as the work progresses. The apparatus holds the edges of the carpeting accurately and conveniently in the line with the needle under all circumstances.

The arms M may be varied in form, and

may be made so as to slide back out of the way, if desired.

I am aware that supporting-frames for traveling sewing-machines are not broadly new.

What I claim is 1. In combination, a bar, B, and the carpet'supporting frame in the same horizontal plane with the upper surface of the bar, a cogged rail, G, parallel with the bar, with suitable lower rail, the two rails carrying the sewing-machine, devices at the ends of the track for holding the carpet under proper tension, and suitable devices for holding the edges ,of the carpet to the sewing-machine, all substantially as described 2. In combination, the sectional bar B, supported on suitable standards, cross-pieces E extending from the bar B, and supported by braces from the standards, the table-sections F, a track for the sewing-machine parallel with the bar B, and the arms M, pivoted on the bar and adapted to be swung aside as the machine advances, substantially as described.

3. I11 combination with a table for supporting the carpet, and a track for the machine parallel with the table,arms M, pivoted on the table and having the perforated bent ends, said arms being adapted to hold the edge of the carpet by means of a pin, and to swing out of the way of the machine, substantially as described.

4. In combination, a table for supporting the carpet, a'track parallel to the tableedge for the machine, devices at one end of the track for holding the two ends of the carpet, swinging arms M, for supporting evenly the edges of the carpet, apulley at the other end of the track, and a cord and a gripper adapted to hold the two parts of the carpet under unequal strain, whereby the figuring may be made to match as the carpet is sewed, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE GQWING. \Vitnesses:

F. L. MIDDLETON, WVALTER DONALDSON. 

